The BASIS provides a forum for the free exchange of information related to addiction, and public access to the latest scientific developments and resources in the field. Our aim is to strengthen worldwide understanding of addiction and minimize its harmful effects. The Division on Addiction, Cambridge Health Alliance, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital.

Wednesday, April 09, 2014

Alcohol policies are often set at the national or state level. However, enforcement of these policies, and establishment of regulations to guide alcohol service and accessibility, occur at the local level. As a result, communities within a single state can vary widely in their drinking environment. This week, The DRAM reviews a study by Paschall and colleagues (2014) examining how (1) the local alcohol environment and (2) adolescent alcohol perceptions jointly influence adolescent drinking behaviors. This review is part of our Special Series on Alcohol Awareness Month.

Greater bar density predicted higher youth alcohol use, but this effect was mediated by youth perceptions of availability and approval. In other words, youth in cities with higher bar density perceived greater alcohol availability and parental approval than you th in cities with lower bar density (not shown in this Table), and these perceptions in turn predicted their alcohol use.

There was an interaction between adult alcohol use and time, such that in cities with greater adult alcohol use, youth past-year drinking increased more steeply across the three study waves.

Table 1. Relationships among local alcohol environment, adolescents’ perceptions of the local alcohol environment, and adolescent alcohol use (adapted from Paschall et al., 2014). (Click to enlarge.)

Note. Researchers used a multi-level modeling technique that allows for inclusion of city-level and individual level effects in the same model. Model 1 includes city-level variable (listed within the table), as well as city-level and youth demographics. Model 2 includes all of the variables in Model 1 plus youth perception variables. *p<.05; **p<.01.

Limitations

The sample of adolescents might not be representative of all adolescents in those cities, and attrition might have introduced bias into the results.

Adolescent measures relied on self-report and recall of past year drinking, which could introduce bias.

The city-level measure of enforcement measured funding of enforcement, not necessarily strength or visibility of enforcement.

ConclusionThe current study suggests that aspects of the overall alcohol environment within a city influence adolescent drinking and do so partly through their effects on adolecents’ perceptions of the availability of alcohol and permissibility of underage alcohol consumption. However, there are other possible interpretations. It is possible that the link both the local alcohol environment (e.g., availability, policy, and enforcement) and youth perceptions and drinking are both driven primarily by adult alcohol attitudes and use. Future research could replicate this study but collect data about both adult and adolescent alcohol use over time as it relates to local environment to further understand the mechanisms behind these relationships.

- Sarah Nelson

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